Land reclamation in Hong Kong

Land reclamation in Hong Kong: Grey (built), Red (proposed or under development). Note that most of the urban area (shown in pink in the map below) of Hong Kong is on the reclaimed land.

The reclamation of land from the ocean has long been used in mountainous Hong Kong to expand the limited supply of usable land with a total of around 60 square kilometres of land created by 1996.[1] The first reclamations can be traced back to the early Western Han Dynasty (206 BC – 9 AD), when beaches were turned into fields for salt production. Major land reclamation projects have been conducted since the mid-19th century.[2]

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One of the earliest and best-known modern projects was the Praya Reclamation Scheme, which added 50 to 60 acres (24 ha) of land in 1890 during the second phase of construction. It was one of the most ambitious projects ever undertaken during the Colonial Hong Kong era.[3][4]

Much reclamation has taken place in prime locations on the waterfront on both sides of Victoria Harbour. This has raised environmental issues of the protection of the harbour which was once the source of prosperity of Hong Kong, traffic congestion in the Central district,[5] as well as the collusion of the Hong Kong Government with the real estate developers in the territory.[6][7]